I"m a nurse anesthetist, and I just got a work-related email from my boss. Basically it said "please conserve midazolam, fentanyl, morphine, and hydromorphone.....supplies are CRITICALLY short & the hospital is struggling to maintain supplies".

Um, ok. The last time I checked, this was the United States, not Crapistan. How are we "critically short" on all of the major anesthesia drugs that we use??? Am I supposed to offer the patient a bullet to bite?

Are there any FReepers out there who have ties to the pharm industry and can explain this? Speaking with others throughout the hospital, I have learned there are critical drug shortages in the ICU, ER, and oncology areas.

We were short of Sufenta today. One of our Neuro guys wanted to use it for a neuromonitored patient so as not to dampen the EEG trace during surgery but was told, “It’s too costly.”
When you start rationing and cost containment shortages happen.
It will only get worse...

41
posted on 02/29/2012 1:09:00 PM PST
by outofsalt
("If History teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything")

Creation of new laws and regulations which shut down profitable businesses and they are then bought up by large conglomerates. Regulations also control the quantity of supply to force higher costs. The government and big pharma then become partners in big business, and this health care plan is just a way or dictating what the markets will be in supplies so that the large conglomerates do not have to deal with such things as competition and a changing market.

It is the direct and unavoidable route of state-management and price controls. It is the same everywhere. The details are always different, but the result is always the same. What you will see (and what we are seeing) is attacks on the suppliers - they are profiteering, hoarding, etc.. etc..

I do believe that in another 10 years, we will see that there will develop a large black-market in medicine. You will need to bribe doctors to see them, as is normal practice in places like China and Russia.

Also, medical tourism will become a booming business - for those who can afford it.

“Before blaming this entirely on obama...drug companies have not been keeping up with this either.”

America has traditionally had by far the best pharmaceutical industry in the world. Most of the drugs were invented and developed in the U.S. The most advanced manufacturing was in the U.S. The government, particularly the Obama Administration sees drug companies as the enemy. Trial lawyers see them as an easy target.

As a result of this harsh regulatory environment and the general anti-business policies of the Obama Administration some of the drug manufacturing capacity in the U.S. has shut down.

The remaining manufacturing faces much tougher and frankly stupid regulations making it more difficult to manufacture drugs in the U.S.

Add to that the price regulations imposed by the Obama regime and it simply doesn't make sense to manufacture in the U.S.

More drugs now come from overseas but this supply is far less reliable.

It is Obama’s fault, directly or indirectly. It is part of a pattern to turn America into a backward third world country. And they hope people like you won't be intelligent enough to understand what they are doing.

My doctor told me a month or two ago that there was a huge scarcity of lidocaine and xylocaine too. He was forced to cut his dosages in half, then quarters as his stock shrunk, to be able to give his patients at least a tiny bit of relief.

According to my Fox News link the problem has been going on for 6 years now. As much as I don't like Obama Care (my GF works in a hospital) I'm not letting the drug companies off the hook either. They are partially to blame and to blame it all on obama is not solving the problem.

“There may be no conspiracy on the side of the Drug Companies, but theres one hell of a conspiracy by those who wish to nationalize them. Can we say Hugo Obama?”

I certainly suspect that Obamacare and even the Federal agencies before Obamacare but under his direction. Control medications and look at the leverage you have. Supplies to favored hospitals and companies and limitations to Catholic hospitals for instance. Later on, good access to health care for Obama supporters and groups. Take a number for conservatives and other enemies of the state.

“According to my Fox News link the problem has been going on for 6 years now”

My wife and several of my relatives work in the medical field. As do some of my close friends. The problem 6 years ago was extremely minor. It was not serious like it has been over the last few years. The problem is getting much worse. It is far worse this year than it was last year. It was worse last year than the year before. A very minor problem has been turned into a big problem by the Obama Administration. And it will only get worse.

It is my understanding that drug companies decide there isn't enough profit in say fentanly so they decide on Jan 31 they will quite manufacturing it. This company has a 20% market share. They get out of the business and there is now twenty percent less on the market because they didn't notify their competitors. Take the drug used for patent PDA’s in neonates. The drug Indomethacin used to cost about $5 dollars but is now $50.00 to 1$100 because there is only on manufacture and he now has all the liablity! I am a Nurse anesthetist and I have substituted Bervital for propofol, used Morphine instead of fentanyl and used valium instead of versed (madazolam) Many drugs manufactured over seas do not met American testing and purity standards so importing can be difficult!

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